


Forward Trajectory

by karcheri



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, POV Outsider, Pseudo-Incest, family dinners with the hargreeves are just an absolute fucking nightmare you can't change my mind, not an au, the others make a very brief cameo don't worry, this is terribly domestic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26095678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karcheri/pseuds/karcheri
Summary: “Ha ha,” the cop replies,” How’s your little troupe of nerds today anyways?”His Professor groans, burying his face in the man’s neck and Nick winces. He should’ve anticipated that answer.“That bad, huh?”Or: Every semester students work themselves to the bone to score the highest mark on Professor Five's final project.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Diego Hargreeves
Comments: 13
Kudos: 139





	Forward Trajectory

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this to take place in some nebulous time period after season one in which they managed to stop the apocalypse and Five acquired a new body.

“See I told you she was into me.”

To his left, Nick can just barely see the screen of Jake Baston’s phone, the light of it sorely obvious to anybody looking as he scrolls through Tinder messages, angling the phone so his friend can see.

Nick bites down on the pen in his hand to keep from snapping at his fellow students and drawing attention to them. Today’s topic is quantum relativity and Professor Five is expecting them to pay special attention to this lesson. They will need it in order to successfully complete their final project, which is due at the end of the semester. 

“Man, shut up, he’s going to hear you-” says the more sensible of the pair, Jake’s friend (Charlie? Chuck? Chase?) before being cut off.

From this viewpoint, Nick can’t see who shushes them but he hopes for everybody’s sake that it sticks. Professor Five is a Class A hardass and his courses are incredibly hard to get into. You have to be personally approved by him and less than 10% of people who apply make it in. There’s even a rumor that he personally recruits top students but so far nobody has been able to prove that- at least not as far as he’s seen. Point is, when there’s a plethora of other bright young academics just waiting to take your place and the slightest offense could get you booted from the class then perhaps you shouldn’t push your luck. But Jake slouches in his seat, seemingly unbothered and Nick wants to slam his head against the table.

To be honest, Nick’s not even sure how Jake got into this class, or why he’s even here in the first place. Everybody else _wants_ to be here because they find it interesting and because they want to be challenged. But Jake? Nick has to assume that he paid his way in. Their Professor doesn’t seem like the type to take a bribe but the higher up faculty might. This, while Nick works two jobs to supplement his scholarship, while taking full time classes, and still barely scrapes by. He just can’t exactly see what Jake is getting out of this experience if he’s already wasting precious class time on his phone.

“Relax, just tell me what to say to her,” Jake says, and in a flash of blue Professor Five suddenly appears behind him and snatches his phone away.

“What are we looking at guys?”

Professor Five smiles with all the force of a PTA mom about to strong arm a retail worker, Nick notices. That is to say, that’s a shit eating grin if he’s ever seen one. Even Jake and Charlie/Chuck/Chase seem appropriately mortified.

“She’s pretty,” he says, while scrolling through the phone and then he begins typing, “It’s a shame it won’t work out between you two.”

And with that he hands the phone back and disappears, quickly coming in to view again in front of the chalk board and resuming his lecture without missing a beat and Nick struggles to catch up. Everybody on campus is well aware of Professor Five’s...unique abilities but knowing and seeing are two different things and witnessing your math professor regularly bend time and space to his will can be a hard thing to get used to.

Nick shakes his head and starts rapidly writing out notes but Jake, on the other hand, is sitting bent over the table, just staring at his phone in utter dejection.

“He told her I have herpes…” he says, but it appears that Nick isn’t the only one annoyed by another interruption.

Mr. Pennycrumb, now stood up, shakes his golden fur and glares directly at them before readjusting his position and lying back down on his bed next to Professor Five’s desk.

*

Another hour passes before class ends and Nick spends so long copying notes out that he’s the last to leave. When he notices the time there’s only a half hour gap left before his shift starts so he hurries out. He’s halfway down the hall when it hits him that he left his textbooks in class. His next class with Professor Five isn’t for another two days but he’ll need it to study and to work on the project. Shit. He’s going to be late for work now.

Nick turns back on his heel and sprints, thinking he can just nip in and grab the textbooks without too much delay but he peeks his head in and sees a man waiting midway down the steps between the entrance and the blackboard with a takeaway cup of coffee in his hands.

The man is leaning against the side of a chair and Nick can see immediately that whoever he is, he’s handsome. A few years older than Professor Five for sure, maybe even a decade, with dark hair, a rugged smile, muscles flexing when he lifts his arms- but that’s besides the point. He has a badge clipped to his belt next to a holstered gun. _What does a cop want with Professor Five?_ He thinks and his question is answered almost immediately when Professor Five appears behind the man and kisses him on the cheek, grabbing the coffee from him as he does it.

And _oh_. It’s his husband. It’s not like Nick was unaware that Professor Five is married. He’s seen the ring but it’s just one of those things that you know to be true but can’t really picture in your mind. He just doesn’t seem like the marrying type. If anything the ring just felt like an accessory that fit his image- like the horn rimmed glasses, or the slacks, or the pressed shirts, or the oxfords, or the classic style watch. Professor Five often looks like he got all of his style tips from a 1940’s high society magazine. When looked at all together, it seemed that the ring matched but didn’t carry meaning. Or perhaps it was just easy to put out of mind when faced with how glaringly antisocial Professor Five could be. He’s such a hard man to get along with that Nick can hardly imagine what being married to him must be like. Did they even have a wedding? Would Professor Five do something like that?

Nevermind. Professor Five’s personal life is none of Nick’s business anyways. He should really get moving. But how to get past them without being noticed? Maybe it would be best to just hide out until they leave.

The cop is speaking now. Nick uses his phone to check the time and sighs, sliding down the wall until he hits the floor. Maybe he’ll be able to pick up an extra shift later.

“Hey, uh uh, I think you owe me a little more than that,” he says, pulling his husband in for a kiss that Nick really does not need to see.

Professor Five stands in front of the cop now, blocking Nick’s view.

“Don’t be needy.”

“What? I can’t miss my husband?” the cop says, with one arm snaked around Professor Five’s waist. 

In response, professor Five says, “No,” which would make sense with what Nick knows about him if it wasn’t abundantly clear that he didn’t mean it when he set his coffee cup down to wrap his arms around the man’s neck. Nick’s head is spinning, trying to reconcile this cute, domestic scene with the harsh and demanding person that he has class with twice a week.

“Ha ha,” the cop replies,” How’s your little troupe of nerds today anyways?”

His Professor groans, burying his face in the man’s neck and Nick winces. He should’ve anticipated that answer.

“That bad, huh?”

Nick tries to squash down the part of him that wants to keep listening in. He feels like he’s trespassing on private land, invading somebody else’s sanctuary with every word that he hears. Besides, in their distraction, he thinks that if he crawls he might be able to make it to the textbooks. But that plan goes out the door when Professor Five speaks again.

“Do you think I’m too hard on them?,” he says and _yes, you are_ Nick thinks as he watches the cop’s other hand come around Professor Five’s back.

“Where’s this coming from?”

_All of the evidence. The entire history of the class. Take your pick, sir._

“Nowhere,” Professor Five says, “Just answer the question.”

“You first.”

Professor Five sips his coffee and sets it back down, and though Nick can’t see his face he just knows that his eyebrow is raised and that his husband is getting what his students call _the look_. You will never feel more small or less competent than when you have to sit under that gaze. Nick has yet to be on the receiving end of it but there’s still plenty of time left in the semester for that to happen.

“You’re being juvenile.”

“And you’re deflecting,” the cop says, straight to the point and completely unfazed, “Try again.”

Professor Five sighs and Nick counts off the seconds in his head.

“Do you think I’m like him?,” he breathes out.

_Like who?_ Nick wants to ask. It’s hard to imagine Professor Five having a past, let alone somebody in it that he would sound unsteady speaking about. He always seems so dignified and unshakable. And he’s not the only one who thinks so- there’s a few students who refer to him behind his back as ‘the general.’ To be honest he’s not even sure how old the man is. He looks as if he could’ve just recently graduated but Nick knows for a fact that he’s been teaching here for years.

“Alright,” and now the cop is unwrapping himself from Professor Five and sitting down, draping his arm over the back of the seat, “What happened today?”

And then Nick listens as Professor Five relays the phone incident to him, in all it’s glory and horror, much to the amusement of his husband who starts laughing, prompting Professor Five to throw something that Nick can’t see at him.

“Okay, maybe you went a bit too far, but” and Nick can still see him chuckling a little through his words as he grabs Professor Five’s hands, “Look, that abusive asshole never gave a damn about anybody but himself you’re…” he motions his hand around.

“Tread carefully.”

“You care about them. You’re not him,” He finishes, and when the conversation begins to devolve into kissing noises Nick takes it as his cue to give up and leave. He can stop by early in the morning and grab his textbooks then.

*

Nick thinks that that will be the end of it. He can return to class and forget about what he saw, or at best fold it down and pretend that it was some odd dream he had. A private joke that he can remind himself of now and then when his work-load is particularly grueling or when he has a shitty day. And that would be the case- if Professor Five’s husband didn’t show up again at the end of class a week later.

And Nick can just leave this time. He has his textbooks; he double-checked to make sure he didn’t forget anything after what happened last time. But he can’t help it. His curiosity is piqued. It’s odd and hard to look at, like seeing a knight take off their armor to reveal that they’re just flesh and blood underneath like the rest of us, but he can’t look away. He waits for all the other students to shuffle out before him and then he hovers by the doorway, quietly flipping the stop down so he can see and hear them without having to get any closer.

Professor Five is at the blackboard with the sleeves if his white button up rolled passed the elbow, still writing out equations. Mr. Pennycrumb awake and watching at his feet and his blazer tossed carelessly over the back of his chair.

His husband looks different this time. The gun and badge are still on his hip, but instead of a professional get up, he’s wearing what looks to be all black tactical gear and he has two knives on his hip, opposite the gun and badge. Nick finds it intimidating. 

When Professor Five doesn’t acknowledge him the man prowls forward, clearly hoping to get the jump on him. Professor Five is unimpressed to say the least.

“If you mess up my work I’ll take your knives and use them to chop all of your fingers off.”

The cop gives up then and rolls his eyes, going to sit on the edge of Professor Five’s desk. 

“You really take the fun out of this,” he says, and starts flipping paperclips at his husband’s back to get his attention, but he doesn’t turn around until he’s finished writing. Nick could’ve told him how that one would play out. 

Professor Five leans against the board and crosses his arms, giving the cop the glance over that his attire warrants.

“So we’re back to this then,” he says, before immediately turning back to the board.

The cop shrugs and Nick wonders what _this_ even is. What could possibly require that outfit? FBI maybe? Something higher up?

“I’m spinning my wheels there,” he replies, jumping off the desk and stealing the chalk from right out of Professor Five’s hands. Bold move, Nick thinks, but Professor Five bends to it. Interesting.

“You knew it was going to be hard going back and starting from the ground up.”

The man slouches against the chalkboard, rolling the chalk between his hands.

“Yeah I just didn’t know it would take so _long_.”

And boy can Nick sympathize with that one. With one year left in undergrad and then five- seven more until he can get his PhD. He knows waiting, and Professor Five doesn’t make it any easier.

“You’ll get there, Diego, we’ve talked about this,” and here if Nick didn’t know any better he would almost say that Professor Five looks soft as he says it.

Nick watches in silence as the man, Diego, lays the chalk down and crowds Professor Five Into the board, sliding a knee between his legs.

“You just say that because you like calling me detective.”

Professor Five snorts but doesn’t doesn’t move away.

“Project your kinks onto somebody else, I’m busy. And you have chalk in your hair.” 

“See, baby, that’s the stuff,” Diego says, running one hand up and down Professor Five’s side, “I love it when you’re a bitch to me.”

“Shut up,“ Professor Five says and Nick knows that he should look away now, or at the very least be uncomfortable. They’re both attractive men, he can’t deny that, but it’s still weird, and when Professor Five let’s off a full on moan, Nick’s pants tighten against his will. But he may just yet be saved.

Diego, the detective (?), whispers something that Nick can’t catch and then scoops Professor Five up over his shoulder and runs for the door. Nick scrambles into a nearby closet and just barely makes it out of sight, watching through the small door window as they pass him by and trying to get his heart to stop pounding. When he exits the closet it’s to the sight of Mr. Pennycrumb following after them with Professor Five’s briefcase clutched in his mouth.

*

The following weeks pass in relative peace for Nick. Professor Five’s husband doesn’t come around again and without the reminder Nick is almost able to push aside this newfound information about his professor in favor of focusing on his coursework. He’s made a great deal of progress in such a short period of time. He’s sure now that he has a shot at the top.

“Before you go,” Professor Five is saying now, staring them all down with his hand clasped behind his back, “I want to remind you that you have one week until your mid term check-ins. And I expect a workable draft of your final project.”

At those words, a few students begin to pack up and stand. Class time is technically over but Nick holds steady in his seat, as Professor Five glares at his students.

_“I am not done yet,”_ he continues and the students who stood abruptly sit back down with guilty expressions on their faces, “I would like for you to keep the guidelines in mind as your work- no exceeding 5 miles in distance or 24 hours in time, and remember- the student with the highest mark will get to see their work in action,” he finishes and waves them off, “You may leave now.”

*

Nick keeps checking over his shoulder and behind him to make sure that he hasn’t been seen. He’s aware that this is a bad idea. He’s aware that it’s _an incredibly bad and stupid idea_ and that he could be in major trouble if he’s caught sneaking around campus after hours like some sort of thief. But the reward is worth the risk, and besides, he tells himself, he’ll be in and out.

The lock on the main entrance of the building is easy to pick after watching a few tutorials online, but the cameras make Nick nervous. He doubts that they’re often checked but just in case he’s worn a ski mask. It is possible that he does, in fact, look like a robber but there’s not much that can be done about that unless he wants to be out in the open and the way his schedule works out right now, at midnight, is the only time that he can really get away with this.

The hallway is dark when he enters, but Nick knows the path by heart. Professor Five’s class is on the ground floor, left and then straight. It’s the last room on the right hand side. He anticipates that he’ll have some trouble stepping down into the classroom and even more trouble actually breaking into Professor Five’s desk which is probably definitely locked but it should still be possible. And it’s not as if he plans on stealing anything- he just needs to take a few photos that he can look at later to make sure the math on his final project is correct. He just needs to be sure.

Nick feels the wall as he walks and knows he’s hit the turn when his hand grazes a corner, and he stops suddenly at the sight of dim light emanating from down the hall. Nick stills and considers backing out but he’s already here and he goes weak hearted now he’ll never build up the courage to try again. 

He centers his resolve and continues on down the hall until he realizes where the light is coming from- Professor Five’s room. Because nothing in life can go easy for Nick. 

Nick lingers while he’s forced to consider his options. Option 1: Turn around and leave, accepting that he’ll have to find another way to check his final project before turning it in. Option 2: Investigate. Somebody else could have had the same idea as him and if they did then he should be aware of them. Also, the light could also just be a janitor on graveyard shift in which case he can probably just wait them out. He chooses option 2, and begins slowly making his way towards the room.

It’s not obvious until he’s just outside the doorway but once he’s there the noise is unmistakable. Hushed, breathy moan, skin against skin. And Nick is going to leave now; he chose the wrong option, that much is clear, but also _holy shit people are having sex in Professor Five’s classroom. After hours._ He has to see who it is. There’s no way he can’t know.

He tries to be cautious of the shadow he casts when sneaking in, just to be safe, but whoever is in there either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. And if worse comes to worst he can just book it out of there. Not that it takes long for him to get in anyways. In the space of seconds, Nick finds himself with a full view of the room, shocked when his eyes scan the area only to land on Professor Five and his husband.

The husband is sat in one of the tiny student chairs, mostly clothed, with his head thrown back and his hair wild while Professor Five slowly rocks up and down on his lap, in nothing but his socks and a completely unbuttoned oxford shirt. The sight makes Nick hard, uncomfortably hard, but he can’t bring himself to move. He finds himself frozen in place, watching as Professor Five slides all the way off his husband’s cock and then slams back down on it, moaning into the man’s neck as he finally picks up his pace. It’s only when Professor Five let’s out a final strangled cry that Nick is able to shake himself free and leave.

*

The incident keeps Nick awake for days for no good reason. He stumbles zombie-like between class and work, with a few half hearted attempts to work on his final project that all ultimately just end with pages of crossed out equations. He can’t work out why he’s so bothered about it, but keeping on like this isn’t an option. His manager at _The Chop_ has already given him a warning about his performance. 

But that’s nothing- Nick hit his lowest point when he calls every precinct in the city looking for a _Detective Five._ It takes up a whole damn night but eventually somebody understands what he is talking about.

_“Five?- do you mean-oh you want Detective Hargreeves! Hold on one second and I’ll patch you through.”_

He’s temporarily preoccupied by trying to work out where he recognizes that name from but as soon as he hears (and recognizes) the voice on the other end, saying, “ _You’ve got Hargreeves_ ,” Nick hangs up and spends the rest of the night trying to figure out _who the hell names their kid Five?_ But at least it gets the cold showers out of his system and he can finally get back to work again.

*

Nick is in a foul mood tonight. He’s pulling a double at _The Chop_ and he might as well have one of those cartoon storm clouds hanging over his head for everybody to see. It doesn’t help that his manager is watching him like a fucking hawk.

The establishment itself is an upscale steakhouse in one of the busier parts of the city and everything about it is pretentious. The tiny serving sizes, the coat check, the deserts served in champagne glasses. Nick could never afford to eat here and he struggles to understand why anybody else wants to but he slaps on his best smile and serves them anyways. _Hi, I’m Nick. I’ll be your server tonight. What would you like to start with?_ Again and again and again. And it’s even worse tonight because they’re understaffed and the weekend dinner rush is about to hit.

Nick is busy juggling two sections on his own when the hostess comes up to him and asks if he could cover one more table- a party of six dining on the patio. And it’s not like he can actually refuse to do it, but he wouldn’t even if he could. A table of six means a big tip, and Nick can really use the money. 

“Did you bring them drinks already?,” he asks, following her towards the patio, through the maze of tables and chairs. 

The hostess, Erica, nods her head and points her finger at the sliding glass door by the patio, indicating their table.

“And Nick,” Erica says, grabbing his arm to keep him stalled, “Be on your best- one of them’s an actress. Big name too.”

With that she turns around and heads back to the hostess stand while Nick uses a nearby spoon to check his appearance. Celebrities are good tippers. He owes Erica big time. After the day he’s had too. Maybe his luck is finally turning around.

Once he’s satisfied with his appearance, Nick straightens his bowtie one last time and slides the glass door back, walking quickly to the table Erica pointed out to him earlier. 

Immediately, he recognizes the actress. He can’t recall her name but he saw a movie once where she played a british spy and had to keep the london tower from falling. It was pretty corny, in his opinion, but it smashed at the box office. She was okay in it.

At the table with her is only three people. On her right is possibly the largest man in the world, wearing a plaid flannel that is hanging on for dear life, and on her left is a timid, mousey looking girl, wordlessly twisting the tablecloth in her hands. Across from that girl is a man in a purple skirt and a muscled crop top that keeps waving his hands around as he talks to himself (?). To the left of him are two empty chairs. As Nick gets closer he can hear their conversation.

“I’m just saying,” The man in the skirt leans back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table, “Maybe they’re not coming. Who even knows what type of stuff they get up to these days.”

The actress grabs her wine glass off the table and leans back.

“Work, Klaus. Work is what they get up to. Maybe you should try it some time.”

The big man awkwardly scoots his chair around, probably unable to get comfortable, or if Nick had to guess, scared that it will break, and says, “They’ll show up?...right?” while the man in the skirt childishly mimics the actress.

Seeing a fight brewing, Nick picks up his pace and cuts in before anybody else can respond.

“Sorry to interrupt, guys. I’m Nick. I’ll be your server tonight,” he makes sure to look directly at the actress while saying it and she smiles politely back at him, “I see that we’re a few people short but is there anything that i can get you while you wait? Some appetizers maybe?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth the man in the skirt abruptly sits forward, knocking the salt and pepper shakers over as he moves his feet. Privately, Nick thinks that he is not paid nearly enough to deal with this but remembering the actress, he keeps his smile plastered on even if he does want to ring the man’s neck. 

“Yes! We are starving over here.”

“I recommend- “ Nick starts but the actress waves him off. 

“Just bring us one of everything,” she says, rolling her eyes. And okay, whatever. A bigger bill is a bigger tip. He can work with this.

“Will do,” Nick says,“And please don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything else I can-”

“Finally!” 

Nick jumps when the man in the skirt yells, and turns around just in time to see the person he least wants to see right now- Professor Five, with his husband sitting down at the table and Mr. Pennycrumb laying down next to his owner, his golden tail still swishing a little.

He barely registers the others greeting them, too busy trying to keep his anger from showing. Yesterday was their midterm check in and he’s been stewing ever since. Professor Five had told him point blank that he needed to scrap all of his work. More than a month’s worth of time and effort and not to be cliche but _blood, sweat, and tears_ , that he’s put in made absolutely worthless now. And why? Because _The terms of the project are clear._ God forbid he show some initiative. 

“Nick,” Professor Five is saying, “I was unaware that you work here.”

And all Nick can do to keep from losing it is to nod in his direction.

“Yes, and if that’s all I’m going to go put in your order while you browse the menu.”

Nick doesn’t wait for a response, determined to shove this table onto whatever coworker he finds first and as quickly as possible, screw the tip, but as he leaves he can still hear them talking.

“You know that guy?”

“He’s a student of mine.”

“Do all of your students run away from you like that?”

“I don’t know, Luther, how many people run away from you when you take your shirt off?”

“Wow.”

“...Sorry.”

*

By the time Nick gets off work, the sky has long since gone dark and inky and the streets are as silent as they get for this part of the city, but the calm of the night does nothing to alleviate his mood.

The entire walk back to his dorm is done automatically, without Nick noticing the particulars of this turn or that- too preoccupied with cursing Professor Five out in his head.

There was nothing wrong with his project. The math was right. He checked it so many times. Nick _knows_ that it was right. And it was ambitious too, eons ahead of whatever his peers are working on. One jump, one year forward, and then back. But Professor Five just can’t let anybody be smarter than him. That’s what it is. Nick is a threat and Professor Five couldn’t handle it so he squashed him down. Fucking asshole.

When he arrives at his dorm, his roommate is passed out but Nick is far too keyed up to sleep. To take his mind off of things he decides to look up the movie he remembered the actress from. It takes him a while to remember the name of it but it comes to him eventually- _Love, London_. Cheesy. 

Searching the title brings up plenty of articles for him. Critic reviews ranging from mediocre to bad, behind the scenes fun facts, sequel speculation, anything and everything- including the name of the actress from tonight. _Allison Hargreeves_. As in Detective Hargreeves. 

Next, Nick searches her name, prompting even more results. _How Allison Hargreeves Reclaimed Her Fame_ is at the top followed by _Hollywood Starlet Blindsided by Divorce Papers?_ and _Inside This A- List Custody Battle -_ both of which appear to be years out of date. Finally, at the bottom of the page is what he’s looking for: _The Troubled Past of Beloved Actress Allison Hargreeves: The Umbrella Academy._ He clicks on it.

_“On October 1st, 1989, 43 women gave birth. This was extraordinary in that none of them had been pregnant. 7 of these children were adopted by eccentric billionaire, Reginald Hargreeves.”_

The article then goes on to list the children, noting that per _Extra-Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven_ , the children were not given names early on and were instead called by numbers. Number One/ Luther Hargreeves, Number Two/ _Diego Hargreeves_ , Number Three/ Allison Hargreeves, Number Four/ Klaus Hargreeves, _Number Five Hargreeves_ , Number Six/ Ben Hargreeves, and Number Seven/ Vanya Hargreeves.

There are a few other details in there as well. Their history as child crime fighters with supernatural powers, the untimely death of Number Six/ Ben Hargreeves, and most interesting to Nick: the mysterious disappearance of Number Five. I’ve got you now, he thinks.

Hiding in plain sight, married to his own brother. There won’t be anywhere in the world left for him to hide when Nick is done.

*

Only nobody believes him. Over the weekend Nick calls every trashy news outlet that he can think of- Us Weekly, People Magazine, Buzzfeed, you name it but they all tell him that he’s full of shit or that they don’t care. He gets the same responses when he posts the information with a link to the original article on the university’s community outreach page, though that one gets removed soon after he posts it. He hits dead end after dead end and on Monday morning he wakes up to an email unceremoniously notifying him that he has been dropped from Professor Five’s class effective immediately.

*

The whiskey burns his throat but Nick downs the last of it and then throws the empty bottle at the townhouse in front of him. 

“Come out here and face me you asshole,” he screams, and it’s swallowed up by the night air. It’s been a week since he was dropped from the course and in that week he’s done nothing but wallow in self pity. Skipping all of his classes and calling in sick to work so that he can drink himself silly. He’s not even sure how he got here, but he does know why he’s here.

This is where Professor Five lives and that bastard owes him some answers for ruining his entire god damn life.

Swaying on his feet, Nick somehow manages to make his way from the street to the doorway and is about to start banging against the door when a strong grip pulls him back. 

Nick stares at the arm, willing his vision to stabilize, and then realizes who’s holding him. Right. The husband. The cop. Shit.

“Want to tell me what you’re doing here kid?”

Nick panics, looking around for anybody to call for help and desperately trying to free his arm from the iron grip it’s trapped in to no avail, while watching Diego use his free hand to pull out handcuffs. And Nick thinks, this is it, I’m not getting out of this one just as the man begins speaking again and the front front door opens, cutting him off.

“Right, that’s what I tho-”

“Diego, stop,” Professor Five says, “I’ve got this.”

The detective looks between them before asking if he’s sure and Professor Five nods.

“Alright,” Diego says, releasing his arm, as Professor Five moves aside to let him in the door. On the way in he kisses him on the cheek. Nick can see Mr. Pennycrumb peeking out behind their legs.

“Go to bed.”

When Diego is out of sight, Professor Five gently leads Nick inside and sits him down at the kitchen table, wordlessly handing him a glass of water and putting on a pot of coffee for them.

While that’s going on, Nick takes the opportunity to look around him. Their place is nice, not overly-extravagant but tasteful, for sure. High ceilings, dark wood, books piled up in random places, clothing too. It’s fitting. 

Professor Five is standing by the kitchen counter in striped pajama bottoms, wearing a too big gray shirt that says ‘New York Police Academy’ on the front in big letters, with the logo of a badge printed under it. The fridge next to him is littered with photos and cards. Held up by circular magnets is a card that reads ‘Happy 63rd Birthday (?),’ and not too far under that is what looks to be a family photo, containing everybody Nick saw at the restaurant the other night. It’s a goofy picture but they’re all smiling. Seeing it, Nick remembers suddenly how very tired he is and puts his head against the table. He could fall asleep right here, really.

He might doze for a bit but before he knows it, a cup of coffee is being shoved towards him and he’s awake again, but he can’t bring himself to lift his head up just yet.

“Just tell me what was wrong with it,” Nick mumbles into the table, “The math was right. Everything was right,” this last part, he emphasizes by banging his fist against the table.

“You know what was wrong with it,” Professor Five says and Nick groans.

“Just because somebody like fucking Jake couldn’t comprehend it does not mean-”

“That’s not it.”

Nick lifts his eyes to see Professor Five take a long sip from his coffee mug and then sit it back down on the table.

“I’ve done it before,” he says and Nick is floored. He lifts his head up fully now and Professor Five holds a hand up to him from interrupting.

“I was 13 when I first time traveled. I went decades forward in time and got stuck there, alone and scared. It was a very long time before I could return. The rules are not there because I don’t think that you can handle the work, Nick. They are there for my safety. My abilities…only stretch so far.”

“But...decades…” 

Nick couldn’t even conceive of that. It took him months to work out a single year.

Professor Five’s eyes sweep across the photos on the fridge.

“I can’t risk losing all of it again.”

The two of them sit in silence for a while and Nick’s coffee goes untouched.

“Now,” Professor Five is saying, while he deposits his own coffee cup in the sink, “Any other questions?”

Nick thinks about it for a second and then shoots his shot.

“Is Mr. Pennycrumb really a service dog?”

Professor Five smiles and leans down to pat Mr. Pennycrumb on the head.

“Yes,” he says, “For PTSD. I got into some trouble after I first went away and he helps. He was actually a gift from my brother Klaus. I believe you’ve met.”

“Was he the one..?”

Professor Five sighs through his nose, “Yes.”

*

Nick wakes up in an unfamiliar room with a throbbing headache. 

He tries to stand up, but he’s immediately hit with a wave of nausea and has to lie down again. It takes a moment for the events of last night to catch up with him. When he does remember where he is, he checks the time on his phone. Tuesday-10am. This is when his class used to be. Professor Five should be at the university by now. 

He forces himself to stand up again and makes his way towards the door. Once outside it, Nick’s met with the smell of bacon and the sight of stairs.

He navigates his way down and to his left he finds the same kitchen that he was in last night. Only instead of Professor Five waiting for him it’s his husband Diego standing over the stove, frying bacon and eggs, with a plate of toast sitting nearby. 

“Good, drunky is up,” he says, “Five’s not here, but he left some papers for you on the table.”

Nick halts and squints his eyes suspiciously at the table before sucking it up and walking over. Whatever it is can’t be much worse then everything else that’s happened, he reasons, and sits down to go through them. But what he finds is surprising. Notes. For today’s class that he’s missing, and behind those, the ones from last week’s classes. He’s back in.

*

That night Nick begins planning:

Project 2.0: 

One jump, one way. From the university to Professor Fives house. 4.9 miles (cutting it close)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Anyways, I only wrote this to take a break from the big time cursed AJ Carmichael/ Five/ The Handler fic that I'm currently working on so thats why this was incredibly self indulgent and completely all over the place nobody @ me. Also if anybody is curious I lowkey picture adult Five as like a dark haired Janis Ancens because my heart never left peak dark aesthetic tumblr when he was fancast as everybody and we were all really into the secret history. Man those were the days :(


End file.
